Eyeball graze means that Hainy has had to postpone clash with Eubank Junior

MATT Hainy has had to pull out of his bout against unbeaten middleweight prospect Chris Eubank Jnr.

A sparring accident has forced the Duffield boxer to withdraw from their scheduled meeting in Belfast on Saturday – but the plan still is for the fight to go ahead early next year.

Hainy suffered a graze to an eyeball during sparring at the One Nation gym in Derby and though it has responded quickly to treatment, manager Clifton Mitchell says going ahead with the contest on Saturday would be a risk.

"Matt has had some eye drops and it is clearing up but we're not going to take any chances," he said.

"He's all right physically, just very frustrated that he's had to pull out, but we were going into this fight to win it and you need two good eyes in a fight like this, not one.

"The fight will still happen but now it will be after Christmas – around January or February time."

Eubank, the 23-year-old son of the former world champion, is still on the Belfast bill and has won all seven of his professional contests.

Derby light-middleweight Luke Gallear will be in action on Saturday.

He fights on a bill at the Doncaster Dome and should be a good bet to improve his 4-3-2 record against Aaron Fox, who has won only one and drawn two of his 24 pro outings.

The same bill sees a professional debut for former Spire amateur star Kristian Davy in a light-welterweight bout against another first-timer, Wade Armour.

Rod Smith, also a successful amateur with the Chesterfield club, boxes for the second time in the paid ranks on Friday.

He won his first outing and faces Costas Osben (2-6-1) at the Magna Centre in Rotherham.

Light-heavyweight Elvis Dube (5-14-1) heads for the Bowler's Arena in Manchester on December 7, where the Derby man is to take on Matty Clarkson, who has won seven and drawn two of his 10 fights so far.